at the summit of Uisneach, County Westmeath, Ireland

llamh Conchobar Clarsair (pronounced "Olov Conor Clarsheer" - the name means "Master Conor the harper") is an Irish musician and artist. He is from Baile an Doire Crannog in Clonlonan in Mide in the center of Eire. In the time of Conchobar's persona - 1150 AD, according to the monks, Baile an Doire means "the hold of the oaks" (modernly spelled Ballinderry). It is right off the "Eiscir Riada" - "the riding ridge", which is the main east-west track between Dublin and Galway. Nearby are the monastic community of Clonmacnoise, where the great bridge across the River Shannon is; and the Hill of Uisneach, where the twin Beltaine fires were lit every year. In the 1200's, the Anglo-Norman invaders would build a "motte and bailey" castle, after which the adjacent town of Moate (2 miles from Baile an Doire) is named.

onchobar is a member of both the Order of the Laurel and the Order of the Pelican. His current projects are to build an Irish "round house" as a tent, and to make a replica of the Ballinderry Harp. He composes many of the harp pieces he plays, and also plays many period pieces. Here's Conchobar's Laurel ceremony, "SCA resumé" and some recent projects.

oth Ollamh Conchobar and his lady, Banbharún Líadan inghean uí Séaghdha are dedicated to the preservation of the Old Ways of their Irish ancestors. They have been members of the SCA for 24 years. Their interests include beading , brewing, costuming, music, jewelry making, leatherworking, weaving, glass beadmaking, woodworking and various other Arts and Crafts. They live in the Barony of Three Mountains in An Tir, where the weather is remarkably like that of their native Ireland, and the name of the kingdom is familiar, since it means "The Land" in Irish. They are members of the royal house of Ulfredsheim, who are some of the greatest folks in the Knowne World, besides being a total blast to camp with.




Per fess enarched Sable and Verte,
two flames and a harp Or

This represents the Hill of Uisneach with the Beltaine fires
and of course, the clairseach, the ancient Irish harp

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Bob Woods has been a computer artist for over 20 years, has had several pieces of art in national magazines and many galleries, and is a commercial web designer. He is the webmaster here at currentmiddleages.org, and has a background in publishing, photography and woodworking. He and his wife, Sam Murphy, have travelled to Ireland and England for vacation (otherwise known as persona research). His ancestors are from County Westmeath in Ireland, where Ballinderry Crannog and the Hill of Uisneach are located, and her father was born in Carrick-on-Suir, Ireland.
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Wed Jan 18, 2006

On vigil again...

At 12th Night-
I was up behind the thrones taking pictures of Oriana's Pelican ceremony, and after it was over, I returned to the area off to the side of the room where most of the Ulfredsheim folks were. No sooner had I gotten back there, I was then called into court myself. It wasn't until I realized that the Pelicans were still up there that I knew I was about to be put on vigil. Afterwards, Kateline stopped me on the way back and said hang on for a second. Then they called in Penelope Violette and put her on vigil. Earlier, our household member Gulenay had been put on vigil for Laurel.

So, I'll probably do it at May Crown, since Penny and Gulenay are doing theirs there. There'll probably be a big contingent of 3M folks and Ulfredsheim folks there, despite the fact that we're getting to be be wimps about camping out that early in the season, especially east of the Cascades.

Wed Jan 12, 2005

Twelfth Night

We're back from Twelth Night. On the way up, it was like driving across a line in the Skagit valley, on one side the ground was bare, on the other, snow. Within 500 feet there was 2 inches of snow. It was the edge of the cold air spilling down from the Fraser valley. By the time we got to Bellingham there were about 8 or 9 inches of snow on the ground. At least we didn't have to have to deal with the snow much as we stayed indoors most of the time.

A couple weeks before, I finished carving the master for the new Goutte medallions. Torfin helped me cast a bronze master and then I made a mold from it. In the last week, I made a bunch of Gouttes, Jambes and Forget-Me-Nots to deliver to TRMs. More...

Sat Sep 11, 2004

New Harp!

Well, new to me, anyway. It's a 34-string Cambria, a gift from a friend. It needed a new soundboard and some other repairs, which would have been fairly expensive. He gave it to me because I repair and build harps, and he didn't want to deal with it - he's got several other harps. So thank you, Brad - I'll give it a good home and fix it up!

I'll tear it apart soon, make a new soundboard for it, and in the process, make it look a little more "period" with some of the decoration and metalwork derived from the Trinity College and Ballinderry harps.


Here I am playing it at the Beaverton Farmers Market demo that Three Mountains and Dragons Mist did today. Being a "low-head" variety like my other harps, it's pretty compact for a 34-string harp. I actually hold it about a foot off the ground to play - I'm 6'3". Gotta make a stand for it, too.

Sat Jul 24, 2004

The CD is out!


My first tunes on a CD are out! "Muse of the Lion", the benefit for Duke Tjorkill, is now available for sale. Everyone involved with this project donated their time and talents for a worthy cause - here's the info site and purchasing information!

Sat May 15, 2004

Demo Season

It's tourney season again, and also there seems to be a lot of demos recently. I did one last week at Irvington School for the 1st and 2nd graders. We had costumes and fighters as well as myself with the harp. I think of all the different ages I've done demos for, I like the young children the best, they're so into the idea of knights and castles, and magic is still real. And they haven't developed the jaded attitude that some teenagers get.

We did a demo yesterday for SWIFT, a charity group. They're based in Clark County, Washington and raise money for several childrens charities as well as Habitat for Humanity. We provided entertainment for several hundred people who were dressed to the nines - black-tie and evening gowns - before and after the charity auction. More...

Thu May 13, 2004

Music and Glass

For the last several weeks, I've been working with Qada'an. She is Baroness Isrith's apprentice. She's got a wonderful voice, I've been teaching her some tunes, and she's been teaching me some. We're about to start performing together, first time will be this weekend. I'll be playing harp on the slower tunes and bodhran on the faster ones.

Tonight we had 3M's A&S Night at out house. We had a bunch of folks working in my shop, making glass beads. Mistress Leah, Rafny Garansdottir, Tekla, Reginleif, Baroness Khalja, Svava and Hrafnir all were busy making beads. It got mighty warm in the shop with 6 torches and a kiln going, though.

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